The Arkham Knight
by The Darkness Knight
Summary: Set one year after The Coldest Knight, Damian Wayne must put on the cape and cowl once again to do battle against Hugo Strange within the confines of the narrows while trying to stop Project Arkham City from becoming active, he will also make new friends and powerful enemies will be born as Damian faces his toughest battle yet.
1. Prologue

A strong electrical current surged through his body, his vision was blurred, a bright light blinded him from seeing anything at all, he didn't know where he was, he knew what had happened, what had led him to this very moment, but he didn't know what would happen if he were to go if he broke out, all he knew was that he felt one thing…anger.

"Wake up Mister Wayne. We have much to discuss." A voice bellowed over him

He slowly began to come back to his senses; the voice was one he recognized as the one voice he knew he would find, the one responsible for everything happening.

"Strange?" he slowly began to feel the anger rise "You won't get away with this!"

"I already have."

* * *

_A few hours before…_

"_This is Vicki Vale reporting live from outside the Narrows in Gotham City, behind me is the wall built by Mayor Sharp to serve as the foundation for his new project Arkham City, this has already caught the attention of some of Gotham's most powerful people including Damian Wayne, the sole surviving Wayne family member will be on stage to announce the rumors of his involvement in Gotham politics…the millionaire…"_

"_It's billionaire Vicki, millionaires are so last year."_

_Vicki turned and smiled warmly as Damian Wayne walked down the road, his black trench coat covered his business attire as he walked up the stage to what appeared to be a thousand separate reporters, camera flashes and microphones were held up as he took his place behind the podium_.

* * *

Another shock entered his body as he slumped backwards, his vision still blinded by the bright light.

"I assume you thought yourself untouchable. Well, as you can see, no one is untouchable." Strange taunted

Damian's mind began to flashback as he felt the sharp pain on the side of his head return again.

* * *

"_Thank you! Thank you Gotham." Damian cleared his throat "Behind these walls, gang leaders are fighting a constant struggle for survival, the disappearances of various Gotham citizens continue to disappear, it is an agent of chaos that cannot continue." He slammed his fist on the podium "Which is why starting today I intend to start a campaign to end Arkham City and make this city safe for the people of Gotham once more…"_

_Sirens began to ring as Damian looked up to black squad cars approaching, men in gray Kevlar uniforms with sunglasses over their eyes and gray military style hats approached and opened fire, the reporters began to cower in fear as the mercenaries began their approach, Damian recognized them, they were TYGER, the group working in Arkham Island._

"_Remember, Wayne is the priority target, focus on Wayne!" The commander bellowed over the intercom_

_Two men surrounded him, Damian knew that using his training would effectively expose his identity, the secondary life he has tried to conceal for the last year…the one he retired._

"_We have Wayne!" One of the men surrounding him reported into their speaker_

"_Lights out Wayne!" The butt of the gun slammed into his head_

* * *

A third bolt of electricity entered his body, Damian didn't know if Strange intended to kill him by using the electric chair technique or if he simply intended to torture him.

"Shut Arkham City down…now! It's out of control!"

"Shut it down?" Strange chuckled loudly "By the end of the night…I will be as famous as you are….Batman!"

**Alright, so first things first, I know I said I was going to give this a little bit, but I wanted to get started right away, now this won't be to one hundred percent like Arkham City, what this will be is a combination of Arkham Asylum in some aspects and there will be aspects from Arkham City and the various comic books as well.**

**There will also be a lot of new villains and heroes coming into this story as well, other then that, everyone who was in the previous story will be returning in some way shape and form. **

**Starting with chapter 1 we will be moving into a prequel before the prologue happens, when the actual after math kicks up, then I'll alert a chapter ahead of time.**


	2. Chapter 1: A reason to come back

**Okay, so as I said, for now, we're looking at flashbacks leading to the prologue. **

_Three weeks prior…_

_Argh…come on already you damn thing. _Damian Wayne stood in front of his mirror, his hands trying desperately to make his black tie look like how it should be, but as always, he had a hard time just not this difficult.

"I swear…mom makes this too easy." Damian sighed in utter anger as he tore his tie apart and tried to start over

Something soft touched his white shirt, he felt it move, almost like silk, it gently moved from his right shoulder blade and moved until the source was right in front of him, Damian could only smile gently as Victoria Queen stood in front of him, her red dress hugged her frames perfectly, her long blonde hair fell down to her chest and was parted on one side of her body, her bangs fell down toward her eyes, red lipstick covered her tear drop lips which formed a smile as her green eyes locked onto his blue eyes.

"Here, let me." She smiled and began to fix his tie for him

Damian didn't understand it, when she called him a few months back and told him she was going to be in Gotham, he utterly didn't believe that she wanted to see him, they agreed that they needed to work on their relationship, go beyond their masks, but she always did tell him how much she loved him and he believed her.

"I'm surprised you're here, figured you'd be back in Starling City by now."

"Do you object?" She asked

"No, no of course not." Damian smiled "I just…never thought I'd see you again."

"I told you before," She fixed his tie, fastened it in place, leaned up and kissed him on the lips "I can't leave my man behind, and I have no intention of it."

He smiled and placed his hand on the back of her head and kissed her gently, she smiled into the kiss as well as giggle.

"You didn't shave on purpose huh?"

"No…yeah I didn't. I know you like it." Damian smiled and kissed the open part of her neck

Victoria's eyes began to roll as she felt herself losing her footing, and the high heels she wore weren't helping at all, Damian smiled and gently helped her sit down, he sat next to her and continued to kiss her, he felt happily again, no batman, no saving the city, all there was now was just him and her, but there was something else.

Music came down from downstairs and chatting followed, this was the something else, it was his birthday after all.

Tori pulled away "What do you say we go down there and give them something to talk about."

Damian frowned "Yeah…I guess…"

"Hey," She kissed his cheek "What do you say we pick up right here," She leaned in close to his ear "tonight."

Damian grinned "You know it Mrs. Queen." He pecked her cheek

* * *

He walked down the hall leading to the main stairs going down to the main foyer, he had to admit, the new Wayne Manor proved to be better than he expected, various art pieces and items were brought out of storage with Alfred's permission were brought in, as well as many things from his room were brought in as well.

Victoria had her arm wrapped around his as they walked to the main stair case; hundreds of people were in the foyer, servants, Wayne Enterprises board members and their families not to mention various benefactors and people who were people he met over the last year through various charity events and foundations.

Everybody began to sing happy birthday as the couple walked down the stairs, when they reached the bottom, Victoria stepped away and joined the crowd leaving Damian at the center of it as they finished singing, and they cheered and clapped their hands as Damian took a glass of Champaign from one of the butlers.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming here tonight and drinking all of my booze." Damian smiled

Everyone laughed at that, to which Damian grinned as he looked out at the crowd and smiled at who he saw, standing off to the side were Selina and Bruce Wayne his parents along with his younger sister Maria, he couldn't understand how his parents kept popping up all the time without being detected, especially since a lot of the board members here were with the company when his dad ran things at the company.

Tori could only smile at him as she stood by Morgan Fox, his new partner and chairman of the board within Wayne Enterprises, Blake stood in what appeared to be a black tuxedo with Barbara Gordon sitting in her wheelchair and the pair were talking with more men in similar suits to him.

Damian stepped away from the crowd and approached them "Blake? Mind telling me what's going on?"

"Simple," Blake nodded at the men "since Barbara will be taking over operations for now in the Batcave; I'm going to be the head of your security force."

"And you're going to be security…without a gun." Damian shook his head

"These disappearances are starting to increase Damian, the security force led by Aaron Cash was among them, and rumor has it someone is locking them up so they won't cause any problems with Arkham City."

"It's a shame Batman isn't here anymore." Barbara sighed in discontent, out of the corner of her eye, she looked at Damian

Damian nodded and walked back from them, he didn't want to get into a Batman talk again, for the past year Barbara had been getting on him about the whole situation about coming back, as he went for another glass of Champaign after drinking his first one in two minutes flat, he was spotted, he could feel eyes on him, a smile spread as he looked over at his parents.

"Why can't I seem to get you two out of Gotham?" He walked over to them

"You can keep the cat out Dami, but the moon does call." Selina smirked

He did have to glare at his dad, who had gotten a total head of gray "Half of the people here you worked with, how do they not recognize you?"

"I have my ways kiddo." Bruce smirked "Remember, I was Batman for ten years."

"Yeah, out of those ten years you were a recluse working on your archery and your beard." Damian smiled at his dad

"Hey, there's the birthday boy."

Damian didn't get time to react as a hand swatted at his bottom, Victoria stood to his side, from what it looked like, the Champaign was getting to her, her movement was swaying and she was constantly giggling and smiling as she wrapped her arm around his neck, almost pulling him down.

"Victoria, good to see you again." Selina said with a bit of attitude

"And you too Mrs. Wayne." Victoria smirked as she scratched the back of Damian's neck "Mind if I borrow your son for a bit?"

She nodded and looked back at Bruce as Victoria dragged Damian away, she practically threw him against the wall and pressed her lips to his, her right leg lifted and rested on his hip. One of the downsides of dating a superhero, someone could actually match them in strength.

"What's gotten into you?" Damian smirked

"Oh you know this." She held up her Champaign glass

Damian kissed her "Why don't you go back to the bedroom and get that out of your system?"

"And take you with me right? Not let you go until morning?" Victoria smirked

"Oh we will, it just won't be until I get everyone out of here."

* * *

The night soon dragged on well into midnight by the time the last of the guests left, Damian had even given Alfred the night off, if there was one thing about Victoria, when she wanted him, she wanted him and when she was angry, the bow and arrow would usually come out.

As he opened the door to his room, she smirked at Victoria who was laying in his bed passed out asleep, her dress tossed on the floor next to her heels, he walked over to her and undid his tie and took his shoes off, as the second one fell to the ground, she began to stir, her hand resting on his leg.

"Hey you." She said sleepily

"Hey yourself, I think I need to lock my liquor cabinet if you're going to be staying full time." Damian smiled

As Damian climbed next to her, she began to move, letting herself straddle his lap, letting her blonde hair fall down her back, he could only smile as he ran a hand along hers.

"You know how happy I am your back right?" Damian smiled up at her

"Oh I know Mister Wayne." She tucked her hair behind her ears, leaned down and kissed his neck

Damian smiled and ran a hand up her back which he could see sent chills up her body, she moved to his lips and closed down on his, he really did feel better, but something he could tell was calling him back out to the streets, that Batman had to come back.

**Okay, so this was a small Damian/Victoria segment to get things going, trust me, once chapter 2 happens, things will definitely pick up with Batman coming back by about three I would imagine, all depends on how I set the story up from here, so expect some cool things coming in and my own creative ties in with some old Batman gadgets and vehicles that haven't been seen in a movie in a long time.**


	3. Chapter 2: Death in the family

Damian walked down the stairs leading into the kitchen, Alfred was already baking and that was always a smell that reminded him of home, fresh baked breakfast items, the smell of warm summer air and a beautiful woman in his bed.

"I smell breakfast!" Damian smirked

"That you do Master Damian." Alfred smiled as he pulled a tray of muffins out of the oven

"I knew I smelled chocolate chip muffins." He pulled one out of the tray

"Careful Damian," Alfred smiled "you still have the child in you."

Damian smirked and didn't say a word as he took a bite out of the muffin and smirked as he took a sip from his coffee.

"Did you enjoy your night with Mrs. Queen Master Damian?"

"How did you…"

Before Damian could answer, Alfred gave him a warm smile, the same smile he gave whenever he came to Alfred for advice, usually with women, it was the same advice his father was given years before.

"Alfred, do you think I'm crazy….I was thinking of asking Tori to move in."

Alfred smiled "No, I don't think your crazy Master Damian, I think your pushing things forward. Your father would be proud."

"You always pictured this life beyond the cave for my dad right?"

"I did." Alfred smiled "And I'm glad he found your mother when he did, I thought we were going to lose him."

"Well he rose to the occasion." Damian smiled and stood from the counter "Dad never talks about Bane all that much, let alone about the woman he was with before mom."

"Rachel? She was a sweet woman, but she…she moved on and he didn't, he was crushed when I told him, I tried everything I could to stop him from fighting Bane." Alfred said grimly "But that was a long time ago, and before I forget, Mr. Fox contacted the house, he said there are some LexCorp representatives and he said the meeting about your equipment can be whenever you wish."

Heels clicking on the floor caught both men's attention as Victoria Queen walked down the stairs in a white top under a sport coat, skirt and heels; her blonde hair was tied back.

"What are you two boys up to this morning?" She smirked and pecked Damian on the cheek

"Talking about women." Damian winked at Alfred who nodded at him and walked back into the kitchen

Tori smiled and kissed Damian on the lips as her arms wrapped around his neck, Damian smiled into the kiss, his body melting into the wall, once they parted, a warm smile spread on her face.

"You always amaze me." Victoria said calmly

"Really?" Damian whispered in her ear

Victoria's eyes closed and a hum came out of her throat as Damian spoke again.

"Dinner, tonight, we take my plane, head for Morocco; we don't come back until Monday morning."

"Hmm," Victoria smiled and pressed her body against his chest "very tempting, pick me up tonight."

With that she kissed him on the cheek and walked out of the kitchen "Goodbye Alfred!"

As the door closed from the main foyer behind her, Alfred walked back out "I have never seen you this happy Master Damian."

"I think now I know what it feels like to be a perfect life." Damian smiled at Alfred and walked back toward the stairs

As he did, he heard it, a loud chirping coming from the corner of the house, one tiny bat was flying around; Damian shook it off and continued to walk.

* * *

"Good morning Mister Wayne, the meeting already concluded."

"That's fine Lucy; I really didn't want to get involved."

Damian smiled at his secretary as he walked into the board room; Morgan Fox was in there along with Lieutenant Gordon and Sergeant Bullock.

"Morgan? What's going on?"

Gordon turned to him "Mister Wayne, Lieutenant Gordon, homicide, this is Sergeant Bullock. We need to talk to you about something."

Damian offered them a chair and sat down "Let me guess…my secretary was found at a crime scene?"

"No," Gordon leaned back "Mister Wayne are you aware Mrs. Victoria Queen failed to show up for work this morning?"

"What?" Damian leaned forward "That's impossible; I saw her leave for work."

"We're well aware of that Mister Wayne; this M.O. is the same as the other people who have been kidnapped over the last year." Gordon nodded "We have a task force dedicated to finding the missing peoples, as I'm sure your aware Mister Wayne, Janet Van Dorn was almost taken last night, had she not pressed the security button under her desk….Gotham may be without its DA, Mrs. Queen will be at the top of the list."

"If I can request it, can you not alert the Queen family? Any chance we can keep it just within Gotham Lieutenant?"

"I'm afraid not, Mister Queen has already been told thanks to my intelligent partner." Gordon glared at Bullock who shrugged his shoulders "But I promise you, I know you and Mrs. Queen are extremely close, I can guarantee you, we will find her."

"Thank you Gordon."

As the three men stood, the members of the GCPD walked out of the room, Damian looked out at Lucy "Mrs. Walters, go on your lunch, make it forty-five minutes today."

She smiled warmly at him "Of course Mister Wayne."

Morgan closed the doors to the board room, Damian began to look out the window, sadness in his eyes as he watched the people move below, he felt his heart begin to break, almost tear itself in two, he tried his best to hold back the tears of anger, he didn't want his old friend to see his sadness, but he knew that Morgan knew him better than that.

"Damian, I know your hurt, but maybe Gordon is right…"

"I know," Damian stuffed his hands into his pockets "somehow I've always known."

"When did this come up? Last time we talked this intensively, you were done with Batman for good, let the cops handle this you said."

"When I realized the cops weren't going to get this done, that every time someone has managed to come up with something against the mayor, they disappear." Damian knew he had to change the subject "The LexCorp meeting go okay?"

"Yeah, I told them you were going to meet with Lex Luthor once things settled down in Gotham City."

"Smart move." Damian smiled "Listen, about that order…"

"Oh I don't have it ready yet, I have a few things special I want to make sure we have, when we're ready, I'll let you know."

"Good to know, I think its time Batman came back." Damian patted his friend on the shoulder and walked out of the office

**alright, short chapter and major delay I know, but this is going to lead into a big fight scene coming up in the next chapter, which will set up part of the plot, don't worry, things will make sense with the prologue I made and the back skip.**


	4. Chapter 3: Fear NoBody

District attorney Janet Van Dorn stood in front of the podium, her brown eyes took in the scene of photographers and reporters gathered in front of her, this was something that needed to be done, something sure she in particular didn't want to do, but she knew it had to be done.

Along with the reporters, picketers, angry citizens of Gotham enraged by her and the GCPD for not doing their job in taking care of the city, this public service announcement was what was needed to be done, beside her sat Commissioner Michael Akins, who nodded silently at her, his dress uniform was freshly pressed and his police cap sat in his lap.

"Good morning people of Gotham City, I called this press conference for one specific reason to reassure the people that we are doing what we can about the disappearances, as of this moment, we are not sure of whom is responsible for the attacks, but while Victoria Queen is the most recent abduction, we are doing everything we can." Van Dorn spoke calmly in the microphone

"Do you think the police would be able to get more work done if the Batman was around Councilor?" One of the reporters yelled

"Absolutely no, if anything, the Batman only hindered our progress on moving this city forward."

"Yet, he also brought down Black Mask, his crime syndicate and defeated a terrorist before he froze the city." Another reporter, Jack Ryder called out

"I am aware of that, I have always believed that we the people can do what we can to survive and we will continue to do so."

"Yet you don't question this now that Mayor Sharp has been elected?"

"No, the Mayor has always had the people's protection and freedom from the criminal element as much as he could when he was warden of Arkham Island."

"And what of Professor Hugo Strange; do you believe he and his TYGER security force may be taking away from what the police can do?"

Janet took a pause "No…no I do think they're doing their job just as the police has, but in response to this, and the disappearances and with the city's permission, Commissioner Akins has an announcement."

She backed away as Akins stood before the people, looking out everyone seemed to be in awe as he began to speak "Starting today, the GCPD has put together a task force of the top men and women of each department, this will be led by our own Lieutenant James Gordon Junior, their job is to track the victims down and find them before any others come up."

Damian Wayne stood within the crowd off to the side, his eyes focused on the District Attorney and the Police Commissioner, he knew only one thing, this task force that was being set up was nothing more than a fluke, a blind fold over the people's eyes, he knew they knew more than what they were letting on, but he knew one thing, taking down Strange from both angles was going to be difficult.

He was getting the first part, make sure to learn everything he could politically and also learn everything about Strange that he could, second thing he had to do was physically attack the weak points of Strange's empire, and as Damian Wayne, he couldn't do it, as a man he was breakable, he was corruptible and he knew that if he were to go on all angles against Strange it would result in him disappearing or getting killed as well as everyone else.

The list seemed to be climbing, Van Dorn was among one of the more recent victims getting attacked, the first group to disappear were the security members of Arkham Asylum led by Aaron Cash and it was followed by various others of occupations, some were communication experts, engineers, politicians and reporters, Damian had a few ideas, but one thing gnawed at him that seemed to be consistent, each one was employed or spoke out against Strange.

As the press conference came to an end, Damian slipped out of the door first and walked away from city hall, he tapped his ear.

"Oracle, I need you to do me a favor, look up any of the reporters that were at the press conference today, also, I need to know about any politicians or reporters who disappeared who spoke out against Strange. There's a connection here."

"_I think I got something actually, there's a reason why no one has been able to pin point Strange to these attacks. Come back to the cave, I think you'll want to see it." _

* * *

Damian walked down the catwalk of the Batcave, the lights overhead came to life with each platform he walked on, the silver squares rising upwards as he proceeded forward to the Batcomputer, he had to admit, a year after moving in and he really did outdo himself, a large computer sat at the end of the catwalk, three screens covered the upward section while a touch screen keyboard was being used by Barbara Gordon, behind her was another catwalk leading to a series of rotating circles, each circle held one of his vehicles, though they were all connected to the giant waterfall to the end of the catacomb and along the center platform housed the other uniforms of his predecessors, as he walked onto the platform the lights inside sparked with light, his father's sat on the far end, John Blake's Nightwing costume sat beside it while Barbara's batgirl suit sat between Blake's and Tim Drake's Robin costume, a person he still couldn't find on any database…or get any information out of his mentor.

"You said you have something?"

Barbara turned to face him "Of course I do, what computer expert would I be?"

"A college freshman?" Damian smirked

"Ha, ha, now let me ask you something, what do you know of underground gangs?"

"Only that they don't fly on the radar like those of the Falcone and Sionis crime families."

"Exactly, now I did some research on this," Barbara turned back to the computer screens "turns out that an underground gang was paid exactly ten thousand dollars in a wire transfer."

"And you can prove it comes from Strange?"

"Yes, I can prove it simply because you questioned it." She smirked "I traced the financial transfer to a bank account out of Hanford, Washington which was a fake bank account with a source coming out of Singapore, which when I opened up the information on the bank account through several encryption protocols and faking a virus in the state's systems…I was able to find the owner of the account."

With a press of a key on the keypad, the screen on the right hand side came to life with a balding, brown haired man with full moon glasses and a full beard on his face.

"Hugo Strange." Damian growled

"Yes, this gang was paid by him, I can't identify the gang he hired, and there are five possible matches." She tapped the keys again "Theirs the Whisper Gang, the Yakuza, La Ema, while the other two are too far known on the GCPD's list that they wouldn't get away with this, half of them are on a parole and the other half are being watched too much."

Damian pondered for a moment "The Yakuza are too well known nationwide, so paying them off would mean Strange would be making a deal with the devil, the whisper gang sounds more like the right one."

"Kidnapping, arson, man slaughter, and gang banging, these guys are out of the Ukraine, so a foreign gang, and foreign bank account with no trace back to Gotham, Strange has picked these guys."

Damian approached his father's suit "Isn't it true they whisper in the dark right before they strike?"

"Uh-huh, what do you think you're going to do?"

Damian had already finished putting on his suit and held the mask sliding it over his face "I'm going to find them, and find where they took the kidnap victims."

* * *

The old Gotham city monorail system was deserted, ever since they established the subway system, his grandfather's monorail was obsolete, though Damian could not understand why they rebuilt it after Crane's attack on the city, it made no sense at all but Damian wasn't going to question the politician's actions.

The railings were starting to break; rust covered the stainless steel beams, graffiti plagued the walls, various gangs, and street thugs and significant others plagued the walls with pictures, words, some of which Damian would never let leave his mouth and the flooring under him was breaking with just the smallest step.

As he stalked along the shadows, his body began to slowly move with the shape of the darkness, he knew that this gang was something different, they operated the same as he did, in the darkness, hoping to strike when the victim least expected it.

Batman slowly released himself from the darkness, his body felt so loose in his suit, his father was bigger than him and was taller than him by two inches but he still felt so tiny in the suit. As he walked, he began to hear whispers from within the shadows, they seemed to surround him, he couldn't understand what they were saying, but he knew they were speaking some language, as he began to look around, he heard footsteps from behind him, he turned to the back and spotted something, six small red circles coming from the position of the front of a person's face as well as two on both sides of the jaw line, the figure glared at Batman and quickly melted into the shadows.

The caped crusader wanted to go after the figure, but he knew what he was here for, and that was the figures who were whispering around him.

"Come on out!" Batman yelled "I know you're here."

"You certainly know of us, but we not of you."

Batman smiled, the six figures slowly came out of the darkness, they wore no Kevlar, no fancy weapons, just blue jeans, black hoodies, masks over their noses, mouths and chins, their similar black eyes were locked on him, they each carried pistols and one or two carried an AK-47, this was going to be too easy.

"So, if I had to guess, Batman has come back huh?" the leader of the Whisper gang, Luka Volk spoke up, he was armed with an AK

"That it would seem."

They went on the attack, firing from their guns but Batman quickly bent down and slammed his foot into one of their stomachs and went on the offensive, as another fired from his pistol, he grabbed the shooter's wrist and bent it in a circle, cracking bones and dropping the pistol, he slammed his head into the man's head as he made impact on the wall falling to the ground.

The last two tried to attack him at once, they wielded a switch knife and a piece of metal pipe, as the pipe thug attacked, he ducked which caused the knife thug to fall backwards long enough for Batman to grab him by the back of the neck and slammed his fist into his face and he slumped.

The pipe thug and Luka looked at him, Batman struck the pipe man by twisting his arm and slapping him in the face, snatching the pipe and dropped it, slamming a boot into his chest, slamming him hard into the wall.

"You're going to answer my questions." Batman growled at Luka

The two quickly engaged, Luka swung but not fast enough as Batman slammed a fist into his stomach and sent him flying, Luka lost his footing and rolled on the ground toward the opening to the monorail, he quickly stood and pulled something out of his pocket, he quickly tried to stab Batman but he grabbed the arm that held the weapon and slammed it into Luka's stomach, Batman realized it was a needle, he let the contents enter the whisper thug.

"Who are you working for?" Batman growled

Fear entered Luka's eyes as Batman grabbed him by the throat and held him a few feet in the air, he tried to gasp for breath, clutching at his throat, nothing seemed to work for the mercenary, but Batman just tightened his grip.

"Who are you working for!?" He repeated

"Hu…go…Strange." Luka muttered through choking breath

"Where are the people you took? Where are they!?" Batman yelled

A high pitched sound entered his ear, he hardly had time to react, within seconds something slammed into Luka's head causing it to explode in blood, bone and brains, his body slumped onto the floor.

Batman barely had time to stand before he was attacked by something striking him in the stomach, then in the back with what felt like an elbow, he was soon gripped by the throat and came face to face with six circles over a metal full faced cowl, along with a full metal body suit with similar holes though they were pitch black and what appeared to be a sword sheathed and attached to its lower back.

"What are you?" Batman growled

"NoBody!" The figure's metallic, raspy voice bellowed as it ushered a kick into Batman's stomach again

Batman quickly got to his feet and went on the offensive, he jumped and slammed a fist into NoBody's face, then several cobra strikes into his stomach, as the final one was intercepted and Batman felt his bones crack as his fist was shifted forward and then a fist was slammed into his cowled head.

"You fight like a man who has nothing to lose and nothing held back, but do you really have nothing to lose…Mister Wayne?"

Batman's eyes went wide as NoBody walked toward him; his metallic feet had the creaking noise of metal in the joints as he approached.

"Yes Damian Wayne, I know all about you, and I'm here to present you with a warning."

He struck again, sending him to the wall, NoBody gripped him by the throat "You keep up what you're doing…you keep trying to stop Hugo Strange, and you will have a fate worse than what I'm going to usher in right now."

"You…You work for Strange?"

"Not for him necessarily, but…with him and I can promise you, you'll end up like your girlfriend Mister Wayne."

"What…what did you do to her…what did you do!?"

"She's seeing things….a bit differently now. And that's all I'm going to tell you."

With that, NoBody slammed a fist into Batman's stomach then pulled from his arms a thick knife and slammed it into Damian's chest, he cried out in pain and felt his body lurch forward, then another knife was slammed into his back, Damian cried out and managed to get the one out of his chest, feeling the blood begin to seep out and stain the Kevlar, he rose and pulled the one out of his back and tried one last time, his vision began to blur and he felt himself begin to fall, but if he were to die, it would be here.

NoBody drew the sword from his back and slammed it into Damian's chest, he felt the blood cough out of his mouth as he drew the blade out and sheathed it.

"Well, that should do it."

NoBody walked back the way he came, leaving Damian on the ground, feeling the open wounds on his chest, as he approached the entrance, he turned back.

"And just so by then you don't come after me…" he reached to his side and pulled out a detonator and pressed the trigger

Explosions rocked the foundation of the entrance as it caved in, boulders and rocks began to block NoBody, leaving Batman alone in the darkness.

He pulled his phone out of his belt and dialed one number "Alfred…" His voice was raspy as he leaned against the wall "Alfred…" His body collapsed and his eyes closed, the last thought on his mind…was seeing Victoria's face one last time.

**Alright! Sorry about the update, I had real writer's block about how I wanted to do this, I wanted this chapter to be brutal and dark, but also have the Bane type of feel to the fight at the end, and don't worry to those who are wondering about Victoria, I plan to explain what happened...just not until we reach where the prologue started the story. **

**So stay tuned and I really do appreciate everyone sticking by me! This project is definitely more complicated then I thought it would have been.**


	5. Chapter 4: The new plan of attack

_He was sleeping, he didn't know for how long he was out, something soft touched his face, it caused his body to stir, as he opened his eyes, a warm smile spread on his face as Victoria Queen lay beside him, a smile spread on her face as he ran his fingers through her long, blonde locks._

"_I'm so glad you're okay Tori." He smiled_

"_Thank you, though I have to ask….did it hurt?" Victoria asked_

"_Did what hurt?"_

"_When you died." A stern look spread on her face_

_Damian felt it, almost in an instant, like lighting that seemed to strike at him or the quick feel of a knife the blood began to soak the blood sheets, he felt his wounds begin to open, his breath began to hitch, he clutched at his chest as he looked around, she wasn't anywhere in sight, her side of the bed had gone flat, the world around him grew cold and dark._

"_Tori? Victoria!?" _

_Then he saw it, the same six red circles, the sound of joints moving in a metallic fashion and then finally, the all too familiar feeling of a knife going into his body._

"_No, NoBody!" _

* * *

"

"He's waking up!" A voice called out "His numbers are off the charts! Someone calm him down!"

"Mister Wayne?" Another voice said "You need to stay calm, please?"

Damian's eyes shot open, the first sight he saw was a bright light coming from the flood light, he always thought they reminded him of the lights from his college dorm rooms, too big and too bright for his own taste, the beeping from the life support machine echoed in his ears like a bad screeching, the oxygen tube in his nose was the worse, having a hard time breathing was one thing but the current situation was ridiculous, he shot up and tried to catch his breath, his hand clutching his chest

"Good morning Mister Wayne, hope you enjoyed your playboy nap."

His eyes began to focus as Leslie Thompkins examined the vitals display on the life support machine, a stern look on her face made him realize that she was heavily disappointed in what happened to him, beside him was Alfred, a concerned look on the old English butler's face.

"How long have I been out?" Damian asked trying to catch his breath

"Three days. We called Leslie after your condition worsened after day one."

"Glad to see you're okay Mister Wayne." A new voice filled his ear

Damian looked up as Lieutenant Gordon and Sergeant Bullock, a look of disgust spread on Alfred's face, but he kept it to Damian who grinned at his grandfather.

"We just need to know what happened to you, we were notified as soon as you woke up."

"Well you know how it goes Lieutenant Gordon, you're out one night looking for kicks, you're trying to defend the bartender from being hit on by a sleezeball, then you take a couple of stabs trying to be a gentleman." Damian shrugged

"From what it looks like those wounds are more than just a knife fight." Gordon looked at him "We'll find out who did this."

"Did you at least see anything distinguishing about him Mister Wayne?" Bullock asked

"No, he was wearing a grey hood over his head, didn't want the playboy billionaire to see him I guess." Damian sighed as he leaned back

"Those wounds look like they were from something other than just a small knife Mister…"

"Alright now that is enough!"

All four men turned to Leslie Thompkins walking back in, she strutted past Bullock with her clipboard in her hand and began to check his vitals "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you and your partner to leave Lieutenant, I will _not_ have my patient bombarded with questions the second he wakes up."

"Doctor Thompkins…we're simply doing…"

"You're simply doing your job I'm aware." She sighed "Now look, you two go back to city hall and tell Mike I will have a talk with him about his priorities when it comes to sending two cops out looking for a bar fight starter, you lot should be looking into people like Victoria Queen's disappearance, I don't think any of you would want to see her father the new Mayor to slap you pigs with something other than a congratulations now do you?"

"No ma'am." Bullock replied annoyed

"Good, now kindly leave!" Thompkins ordered

With that, both police officers walked out of the room, shutting the door, Damian felt his face drop with upset and his stomach began to feel sour at the mention of his girlfriend, she was out there in the darkness and he wasn't any closer to finding her, he felt alone, worse than he ever was before, all he wanted to do was to crawl inside his cave and just be left alone until the cops found her, if she died…he would exact vengeance on everyone, Akins, Strange, even Gordon.

"Master Damian?" Alfred looked at him

Damian blinked "Sorry Alfred, I just started drifting off."

"Yeah yeah Damian, now hold still." Leslie applied the stethoscope to his chest to feel his heart beat

"Anything change while I was out?" Damian asked

"More disappearances, Strange has now begun building the walls in the bay that will block off the Narrows from the rest of Gotham."

"Did Barbara manage to deduce anything?"

"No, we still can't find them."

Damian looked at Leslie as she moved from his chest to his back "Alfred, I need you to get Barbara back on this, and I need you to contact Mister Fox, get the financial records for the Wayne Foundation for the last year."

"What do you need them for sir?"

"Simple old friend, we're going hunting."

* * *

It did not take Morgan Fox long to arrive, they spent the better part of two hours sorting through documents and various account figures from Wayne Enterprises' profits, Damian knew the money was going to be a big part of his plan, but this plan he had yet to express to anyone else of his team.

The door opened and John Blake walked in, a sigh escaped his lips as he leaned against the door as it closed behind him. The last year of service had taken its toll, his face was starting to wrinkle, his hair was now a salt and pepper color and his suit almost looked like someone had robbed him, his black tie was undone, his white shirt was pulled out partially, his black sport coat had several spots of stains on it which matched his pants.

"Long day at the office Blake?" Damian

"Trying to avoid reporters and Leslie, she is chewing them a new one right now." Blake sighed again as Morgan stood and pulled a chair up for the young vigilante to sit

Damian grunted as he let the weight of his body push his top half of his body up and slowly began to move, the papers and folders began to move gently with the bed sheets like waves, his feet touched the floor and he immediately felt a cold chill run up his body as he sighed and stood.

"Wow, look who recovered after one day on bed rest." Blake smirked

"Not funny John," Damian grunted as he placed a hand on his chest "My entire body feels like absolute crap, that doesn't even compare to the guilt I carry on my shoulders."

He immediately limped to the window "Leslie think I'm a vegetable because some freak in a metallic body suit beat the living crap out of me…I recognized his training…the speed and the ferocity of his attacks stuck out the most."

"How Damian?" Morgan asked

"It's the same training I got from my father." Damian turned to his partners "He has League of Shadows training."

"And that changes things how…?"

"You don't understand Morgan." Damian turned his body and let his hands rest on the window pane "My father drove the League out twenty-seven years ago with Talia and Bane; it was supposed to end there, if the League is targeting Gotham City again, then it means this whole Arkham City plot may be their doing."

"Why would the League block off the Narrows from the rest of the city?" Blake asked

"Divide and conquer maybe? Maybe separate the criminals from the wealthy, the GCPD and the military would focus on those not in there….which means one thing…I have to go in there."

"You mean…"

"Strange is locking up those who speak out or do actions against him or Sharp, if I do the same thing…then I might be able to find the others and Tori."

"And what if she's not in there?" Blake spoke up

"Then I'll free everyone and strangle Strange with my gloved hands." Damian clamped his hand into a fist

"Do not kill him Damian," Blake stood up "You know it goes against everything Batman stood for."

"Then why don't you tell me how it feels? Tell me you know how it feels to let the one person in the world that cares about you for you slip away, get taken from you by some mad man and not know about her."

"I do know how it feels boy." Blake growled "Do you honestly think I wouldn't tell you this without experiencing it for myself years before?"

Suddenly it dawned on Damian, he had finally put it all together, and the reason why he closed himself off from being Nightwing, why he let himself and Barbara keep quiet but still know about the Batcave.

"That's what happened isn't it? That's what happened, you lost control and you ended up killing someone." Damian asked

Blake didn't respond, he simply walked away from him and sat back down. Morgan looked at both men and flipped through a few papers, finally deciding to speak up.

"So what do you intend to do in order to get yourself locked up?"

"Simple," Damian smirked "I'm going to get involved in the politics of this city, start a campaign to shut Arkham City down."

"And if it doesn't work? Then what?" Blake asked

"Then I'm going to be locked in the city, then as Batman, I'll be able to fight from within, find out what's going on and put a stop to it."

All three men nodded, the plan was set, now Damian was only missing one thing, and that was the caped crusader himself.

* * *

Outside the hospital, a female figure watched Damian from the rooftop opposite from the hospital; a smile crept on her red crimson lips. A domino mask encased her brown eyes.

"Well, this should be interesting to see." She lowered the binoculars from her eyes

**Alright, so sorry for the delayed update, I had a serious case of writer's block with how I wanted to progress in this chapter, but now I got a good idea, we're only one chapter away from the prologue and I'll carry on the story from there. **

**Stay tuned, I'll try to get chapter 5 up this week going into this weekend.**


	6. Chapter 5: The Bat's Cat

Damian took a sigh of relief as Thursday finally arrived, it had been a long last few days of getting the funds ready to go, various supporters, and charity events to spread the word of his campaign, all that remained was one more aspect, one more thing that would separate him from the other prisoners, his second identity.

The double doors opened leading into the hallway leading to Morgan Fox's office, as he began to walk with pride, he noticed that there were various security operatives standing at the door entrances and exits, each one was wearing a full suit and tie, sunglasses over their eyes and M4 rifles were cradled in their arms like a child.

They occasionally glanced at their boss, and Damian felt a chill go up his spine as they opened the door to Morgan's office, he was looking through papers, his rolling chair was propped back and his half-moon glasses were hanging on his nose.

"Gentlemen, thank you very much for your service," Morgan didn't look up from his papers "please send word to your men, take a lunch break; I want to speak with Mister Wayne alone."

The men nodded and left the room, locking the door behind them, Damian looked behind him then back at Morgan.

"City council thinks that those doing the disappearances could possibly target me next, I told them I can handle myself, but what are you going to do?"

Damian smirked "Funny, I could have hired Blake."

"No, I'm fine." Morgan answered quickly

"Do you have what I need?"

"Of course." Morgan took his glasses off, folded them together and slipped them into his desk "Follow me."

The bookshelf slipped inside of the shelf next to it revealing an elevator, Damian shook his head as the pair walked in.

"Please keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times." Morgan smiled as he pressed a button

* * *

He felt like he was going through the worst case of Déjà vu, just two years ago he was standing in this same room getting his first Bat suit, of course last time it was with Luke Fox.

"So what became of Luke?"

"He's still in Gotham, getting back into the boxing arenas, though I do think he wants to do more to help."

"Maybe we can find something for him. So what do you have?"

"First things first." Morgan approached a drawer, pressed his hand and let the contents come out

The inside held a series of thick plating, it looked like the separate plate components that made up his father's suit, though they were a dark gray, each one making a separate component with a black bracer along with what appeared to be a neck guard, though Damian was worried it would constrict him from turning his head, a benefit he had to wearing his old one.

"Hardened Kevlar plating with a titanium and diamond coating. Knife resistant, cant melt because of heat or break because of freezing." Morgan smiled "Luckily it is flexible, thanks to this."

He pulled another drawer open and pulled it out, the contents was a black mesh, form fitting suit. Damian ran his fingers along it.

"Reminds me of what my mother wore when she was the Cat."

"Exactly, hence why I got it. The suit is form fitting, you are going to be able move faster; you will be lighter and more agile than before. No camo belt this time around."

"Shame, I never used it." Damian smirked

"But I do have one more thing to show you." Morgan smiled

"After all this, I can't imagine what this would be." Damian smirked

They walked a few feet out from the drawers which led to a large door, Morgan pressed a button and the door rose to a large object with what appeared to be a boat with a long bow pointed like an arrow head, the stern of the boat seemed large enough to hold a few people, wings on the sides which were shaped like batwings.

"Okay, now I swear, you're over compensating for something." Damian smirked "What's the story with this?"

"Defense department project for the Navy strike teams to drop them in naval warfare, they would be sent from air craft carriers for above and under water combat."

"Dare I ask why this wasn't put into production?"

"The Navy felt these were going to get more men killed, and around that time was when SEAL teams began to get major improvements to their arsenal."

"And the name?"

"Oh it has a long drawn out Wayne Enterprises designation…" Morgan smirked "I just took the liberty of calling it the Batboat."

Damian smirked at the name "There's a body of water near the house that leads to the Gotham Bay, if you wanted to drop it off there."

Morgan smirked "No problem. I'll be discreet."

* * *

The day of meetings with Morgan led into one of the final charity benefits being held in city hall, Damian didn't want to understand it, Quincy Sharp was more than likely there, along with Hugo Strange, though he was beneficial to one thing, it was a masquerade theme, all of the rich members of the city who attended wore some sort of mask over their faces.

Of course, there was always the bad element of the business, those who tried to crash the party, those of whom were swiftly removed by the members of Blake's security force, but there were those who could blend in so well with the other bureaucrats, they were just considered an easy score.

Damian had taken into account every person who had arrived for these events, usually they were the same faces, but there were some new ones, though one definitely caught his eye more than once, his blue eyes scanned over the crowd, he was trying to see if she would show up to this last night.

He stood on the upper balcony, his hips leaning into the white half wall, his black suit was pressed and his red tie was getting creases from him leaning, his chocolate brown hair was slicked back with just a bit of scruff on his face, people had begun to question why the young billionaire wasn't seen with Victoria since his birthday celebration, he had to keep the public believing he was alive, depressed and torn on the inside, but alive.

"Ah, Mister Wayne, a pleasure as always."

Damian didn't turn his head or his body, but he knew who had approached him, the short, balding head of none other than Quincy Sharp, former Arkham warden and newly elected Mayor of Gotham City, a decision Damian still felt sick to his stomach about.

His dark blue suit was neat and trim, his head freshly shaven, he walked with a dark brown walking stick and he was protected by two members of TYGER, the Asylum's elite guard force, whom were armed with M4 rifles.

"Mister Mayor, you'll have to forgive me if I don't want to talk." Damian

"I understand these events were brought together with the intent on bringing down my Arkham City Project."

"_Your _project Mister Mayor, or your associate Doctor Strange?"

"Doctor Strange does good work." Sharp reassured "It would seem wise for you to make an appointment with him Mister Wayne."

"For what? I'm perfectly fine."

"Well, I was just thinking your sick mother, your dead father and not to mention your missing girlfriend, I figured you would want to see a shrink to fix these…"

"First of all," Damian turned to face him, his tone growing cold as ice "I've come to terms with my father's passing, my mother, she's doing fine and is teaching self-defense classes to poverty struck women like nothing happened and as for Victoria? You really want to get into a debate about her disappearance when I know the people who have disappeared were significant figures in Gotham City."

"Oh really? Like whom?"

The TYGER guards began to be aware of Damian's cold tone, but Sharp just raised a hand to them.

"Judge Maria Vargas, an old friend of former police commissioner James Gordon and my father, the botched attempt on Janet Van Dorn, not to mention Michael Akins, finally Victoria Queen, it's no surprise that you're targeting these people, the people who had enough influence to bring you down."

"Now that's enough Mister Wayne! I will not have you stand there and insult me like this…"

"Or you'll do what? Toss me beyond the walls, into the Narrows and let me fend for myself until I'm killed? You won't last another day in office if you throw me in there." He turned his head back to the crowd

Then his eyes locked onto one figure, a figure that stood out, the one he had been searching for, the figure was a young woman, about a few years younger than him, but not by much, by about a year or two. A smile spread on his face as she looked up at him and smiled.

"Mister Wayne? Did you hear me?"

He turned and forgot that the short Mayor of the city was standing near him; he shook his head and stood.

"If you excuse me Sharpie, I have to go mingle."

With that, he turned on a heel and walked away from the Mayor, Sharp let a deep sigh escape his lips and he reached into his navy blue sport coat and pulled out an old flip phone and dialed a number on it.

"It's me, Wayne is getting too close, and you need to take care of him…tomorrow." Sharp closed his phone with a thud.

* * *

"Mind if I cut in?"

The young woman he watched and her dance partner turned, the dance partner, an older gentleman with graying hair and wore a dark blue mask smiled and stepped away as Damian took the woman's body, a hand on her waist and their hands locked.

A surprised and disgusted look spread on her face which was concealed by a black domino mask, her light brown, curled hair cascaded down to the upper part of her back which was revealed on the right side from her one shoulder black dress and more uniquely and what caught his eyes before was the set of velvet cat ears that rested in her hair.

"Uh-oh, someone doesn't seem too happy to see me."

"I thought you never attended these type of events." The woman's tone was cold, but a slight smile spread on her face

"I felt like some fresh air." Damian smirked

His eyes glanced back at the guy she had danced with previously, a shocked look spread on his face as he was looking in his pockets.

"Have to say, I'm impressed."

"About what?"

Damian's hand moved from his waist and held up a black wallet "This. You certainly know your skills in thievery, reminds me of a family member of mine."

A smile spread on her face "No need to judge me Mister Wayne, besides, your skills are slipping." She held up her other hand and showed his Rolex watch

He raised his eyebrows "Impressive, very impressive. Seems like a woman like you could do something more than steal to make a living in the world."

"You think you can judge me knowing you were born in the master bedroom of Wayne Manor?" She slightly teased with an insulted tone

"Actually, I was born in a downtown hospital in Florence." Damian frowned

"I've had to survive all my life, and right now, my survival is being threatened, so I'm going to take care of it myself."

She reached to her right leg and lifted her skirt, exposing a bodyguard 380 pistol, Damian's eyes went wide as he brought her arm down, pulling her body close so it looked like they were dancing closer to each other.

"Are you crazy?" Damian growled "You think killing someone here is going to get you what you want?"

"Killing Sharp will save the people of the Narrows, then yes, I do think that it will get me what I want."

"I understand survival, I get that, but there is another way to do this." Damian felt the sweat drip off of his forehead

"And how is that?"

"I have a powerful friend who handles situations like this, if you really want to stop Sharp, then let me have him meet you, you can get him to talk to you and we can sort this out properly."

She felt the tears begin to form "Why do you care?"

"I know what it's like to survive, to fight for what you want, if you plan on killing Sharp, then you must be in deep with the wrong people."

Her breath began to hitch and she slowly calmed down "Alright, have him meet me tomorrow night, the rooftop overlooking the wall blocking the Narrows."

"He'll be there. I promise." Damian smiled at her

She parted from him and slipped his watch back on his wrist, taking the wallet "By the way, my name is Briya, Briya Black."

"Damian Wayne."

She then moved in and planted her crimson lips onto his, within that split second, Damian felt a spark, a spark he hadn't felt since he first met Victoria, he didn't kiss her back, even if he tried, she parted just as quickly and stormed off.

The man she danced with charged forward "Way to go, you scared her off." He chased off after her

"Not likely." Damian straightened his jacket

* * *

Alfred sat in the Rolls Royce outside of city hall, the newspaper in hand as he flipped through the pages, he always did think of himself as old fashioned, the people of today using tablets and smart phones to get everything they needed, he preferred things the easier way.

He had been worried about his surrogate grandson, since Bruce and Selina announced him as Damian's grandfather and godfather, he did take it upon himself to look after the boy, and these last few weeks made him sick to his stomach, to see his grandson sink as low as he has emotionally, he knew Victoria missing was taxing on him, and he was surprised to see such a spring in his step as he climbed into the car, and what appeared to be red lipstick on his lips which he tried to smear off with his shirt cuff.

"Just you sir?"

Damian blushed "I feel terrible Alfred, I shouldn't…"

"Damian, don't worry about feeling guilty, all you need to remember is that Victoria's still out there, and she loves you."

"I know, you don't need to worry, I didn't kiss back."

"Don't worry Master Wayne," Alfred started driving "takes a little bit of time to get back into the swing of things."

**Okay everyone, I am back! I will admit, I had major writer's block with how I wanted to write this, but I really do have to say thank you to the _Dark Knight Rises,_ _Batman Returns_ and the new Arkham Origins game coming out this Friday for inspiration and I have to thank Irish Maiden16 for giving me support and listening to my ideas.**

**Now, I will admit, this was originally not going to be the last chapter and I was going to do one or two more then do the collision with the prologue, but I decided against it and get right into the present since this has a lot of the story in it and it will definitely define Damian as Batman, so stay tuned for the next chapter which won't be up until another two weeks or so due to Origins coming out, I will be taking some time to play and understand the plot.**


	7. Chapter 6: Captured part 1

**Author's note: Okay, so now we're at the prologue, I'm hoping after this chapter, the story will begin to get more readers, not doing so well unfortunately.**

Damian awoke early that day, it was time, in a few hours, he would be giving a speech to the people of Gotham and announcing the big announcement that he knew would make him a threat to Strange and Sharp.

As he buttoned his dress shirt, the door opened and Alfred walked inside his bedroom, the old butler held a cup of coffee and the morning paper under his arm.

"You're up early Master Wayne."

"I've got to head to the office before my press conference, rumors have it that Oliver Queen is in the city." Damian fixed his tie

"About his daughter?"

He nodded "Apparently Oliver was just elected Mayor of Star City; rumor has it he's ready to appeal to the courts for charging Gotham with first degree murder. Sharp would have Oliver killed before he would ever appear in Washington."

"Or Strange."

"Exactly." Damian nodded "Either way, I'm just getting ready."

"And what about your midnight meeting?"

"With Briya?" Damian turned to Alfred "I'll take care of it after my press conference at eight."

"She seems rather lovely Master Damian."

This caught his attention, Victoria had only been gone for a matter of two weeks and already Alfred was trying to tell him to move on from her, he loved her, and letting her go was not one thing he was ready to do yet, let alone admit that she was dead…or worse.

"Alfred, we'll discuss my relationship issues tomorrow morning." Damian growled

* * *

The night soon came, Damian sat down and tried to relax in his limo, the meeting was short and sweet, just some account numbers to ensure he was able to fight Sharp and his politics.

"Are you ready Master Wayne?"

Damian looked up to Alfred, a concerned and worried look spread on the old man's face, he nodded soundly and wiped the sweat from his brow, this was it, and from here on out, he was going to be fighting on both fronts, the long nights were going to be difficult.

"I'm ready." He climbed out of the car and closed it behind him

As he began to walk, the cameras from the reporters began to flash and blind him, he took notice of Jack Ryder, a known reporter who at the moment was running an investigative expose on Quincy Sharp, and Vicki Vale, the pretty red haired reporter kept her hair hanging down past her shoulders, a black trench coat covered her body as snow began to fall down from the sky.

"This is Vicki Vale reporting live from outside the Narrows in Gotham City, behind me is the wall built by Mayor Sharp to serve as the foundation for his new project Arkham City, this has already caught the attention of some of Gotham's most powerful people including Damian Wayne, the sole surviving Wayne family member will be on stage to announce the rumors of his involvement in Gotham politics…the millionaire…"

"It's billionaire Vicki, millionaires are so last year."

Vicki turned and smiled warmly as Damian Wayne walked down the road, his black trench coat covered his business attire as he walked up the stage to what appeared to be a thousand separate reporters, camera flashes and microphones were held up as he took his place behind the podium.

"Thank you! Thank you Gotham." Damian cleared his throat "Behind these walls, gang leaders are fighting a constant struggle for survival, the disappearances of various Gotham citizens continue to disappear, it is an agent of chaos that cannot continue." He slammed his fist on the podium "Which is why starting today I intend to start a campaign to end Arkham City and make this city safe for the people of Gotham once more…"

Sirens began to ring as Damian looked up to black squad cars approaching, men in gray Kevlar uniforms with sunglasses over their eyes and gray military style hats approached and opened fire, the reporters began to cower in fear as the mercenaries began their approach, Damian recognized them, they were TYGER, the group working in Arkham Island.

"Remember, Wayne is the priority target, focus on Wayne!" The commander bellowed over the intercom

Two men surrounded him, Damian knew that using his training would effectively expose his identity, the secondary life he has tried to conceal for the last year…the one he retired.

"We have Wayne!" One of the men surrounding him reported into their speaker

"Lights out Wayne!" The butt of the gun slammed into his head

The last thing Damian heard was screaming from the various reporters and camera people and the last thing he saw was the walls of Arkham City.

* * *

He didn't know how much time had gone by, the last thing he felt was the shocks entering his system, and his body ached beyond all belief, he didn't know what time it was and he couldn't see anything.

"I guess I should thank you." A voice said over him

A small light turned on, Damian was met with a pair of full moon glasses in front of him, letting the playboy see his own face and he was disgusted, blood ran down from his nose, there were various cuts on his cheeks, the left side of his forehead was swollen and he just looked like a mess.

He recognized who it was, none other than Hugo Strange, he knew talking to the man was not something he should do, but listen and try to get a strategy together to fight back and get back to Gotham.

"Capturing Damian Wayne is so much easier than Batman, and now that you are here, protocol ten is ready to begin, a monument to all of your failures and my legacy, should you try to stop me, I will make sure everyone knows your secret."

Strange straightened himself up and walked away, closing a door behind him, he didn't know where the door was, but he knew he had to find it. With a flash, he was blinded by the flood light above his head and he managed to see where he was now, he recognized it was outward processing in Arkham Island, the same place he visited a year ago to see the Mad Hatter, he found himself chained by his wrists and ankles.

They were on him like a flash; two TYGER mercenaries grabbed him and lifted him up, dragging him through the long hall of central processing, Damian felt his head was still swimming with whatever drugs they pumped him with, he tried shaking it off, but the sound of a roaring crowd caught his attention.

There stood at least twenty prisoners, each one of them was male and they wore the orange jumpsuit from Blackgate Prison, lesser criminals went there, so why were they popping up in Arkham City?

"Move up to the front Wayne!" The TYGER guard who grabbed him yelled

"What are you doing in Arkham City Wayne?" One of the prisoners called out

"Whatcha do? Off ya' butler?" Another called out

"You're going to be my bitch Wayne!"

Damian stood, finally regaining his vision as he began to walk, ignoring the roar of the people around him, turning to his right was the same thing, Blackgate Prisoners being herded like cattle into the long metal chain processing lines, the one he was in front of held three men, one of them smiled at him when he saw who was approaching.

The man had black graying hair, he wore a similar orange jumpsuit and an eye patch over his eye, as the TYGER mercenaries shot at the ground at the two of them between the two of them, Damian's eyes went wide as he realized who it was.

"Damian Wayne? Just the man I was looking for." The man smiled

"Floyd Lawton, somehow I highly doubt I was the last person in the world you want to be seeing." Damian growled, still remembering the role Deadshot played in undermining his crusade last year as Batman

"You're on my list Wayne, one false move…and bang." Deadshot aimed his fingers in the form of a pistol and fired it at Damian's heart

Damian's face grew cold, he was ready to snap the man's neck in two, a feeling he hadn't felt in years since he was a child, the feeling to kill, the feeling of cold, dead blood on his hands and Deadshot finally learning his place.

"Where is Victoria Queen?" He growled

"Wouldn't you like to know Wayne, Black Mask is just anxious to see your blonde girlfriend again?" Deadshot smirked

"Black Mask is dead, we both know that."

"Sure he is, you'll just have to see for yourself." Deadshot stepped aside

As Damian began to walk forward, he realized a gun was heading right for his head, he grabbed hold of the butt and felt a club hit him on his back, two TYGER guards stood over him as Strange began to walk forward.

"Ah ah ah," Strange held his hand up indicating for them to stop "Mister Wayne will not be any more trouble, will you Mister Wayne? The cuffs can stay on."

Damian looked forward, not looking at Strange and spotted others inside the elevator ahead of him, as he was shoved inside, everyone looked over at him.

"Damian Wayne? Jeeze, just great," a man by the name of Jack Ryder stood by him "here I was reporting on your crummy press conference, watching you get all chummy with Vicki and now here we are, I don't think anyone's seen you in days."

"Days? How long have we been in here?"

"Two days at the most, and now we're going to die."

"Listen to me closely Ryder, when the door opens, do not panic and stay by me."

"Yeah right!" Ryder laughed "You really think I'm going to entrust my life to someone who's never been in a fight?"

The door opened the main green field of Arkham Island, prisoners in jumpsuits roared in success as the three other men in the elevator ran out, they were immediately attacked by men who ran out into the field, ahead was the main gate, which would go right into Arkham Island, Damian sighed, this was going to be a long night.

"Stay calm Jack, they're trying to scare us."

"It's every man for himself!" Ryder yelled out

Suddenly snapped in him, he began to look around, his vision began to blur and he began to laugh, the laughing was calm as he sat down along the wire of the main gate, cradling his head in his hands, laughing hysterically now, he couldn't stop and part of him didn't want to stop.

"Oh this should be good! The reporter Ryder is about to get his feelings and his face hurt!" A prisoner loomed over him

"Excuse me."

The prisoner turned to Damian, who slammed both of his hands into the man's face which sent him into the fence, knocking him out immediately.

"I said move Ryder!" Damian yelled as he grabbed Jack by his arm and tossed it over his neck

The pair began to move through the path, ready to face Arkham, but as the gate opened, Damian saw a short man with an umbrella, a balding head of black hair, a monocle over his right eye.

"Well well!? Look who came in to play!" Penguin laughed

Damian didn't feel it, he didn't even know someone had snuck up behind him, he felt the sting of a club hit him in the back, then he looked up to Penguin, the last thing he saw was his boot hitting him in the face.

"_I need you Damian!" _Victoria's voice echoed in his memories

**Well, I hope everyone enjoyed reading this, I promise, there will be answers as to how and why Penguin is in Arkham, and trust me when I say everyone from Coldest Knight will play some role in this book and there will be a lot of new faces, familiar to DC fanatics like myself and I will give them all backgrounds as well.**

**Coming up we see some familiar faces to those who know your Batman lore.**


End file.
